DEDHAM, Mass. — Mask on, mask off. Walk around town and you’ll see a little of both, but will that be changing now that the CDC said fully vaccinated people can keep the masks off?
“I think you have to be cautious,” said Cindy from Needham.
Although everyone agrees this is good news, almost everyone Boston 25 News spoke with said they’re just not ready to go fully mask-less, including the Dermarderosian family of Westwood.
“I wasn’t expecting it, said Maggie Dermarderosian. “I felt like it happened very quickly.”
>>>MORE: Baker administration ‘welcomes’ new CDC guidance, current mask order remains in place
“Outside, I wouldn’t worry about it, but inside, I would still mask,” said Ericka Dermarderosian. “Because you don’t know about other people’s vaccination and then with the new variants.”
“I think people should respect other people’s decision to wear the mask indoor or outdoor,” said Elina Davis of Dedham. “If the government is ok with that and someone is ok with not wearing it, other people have to respect them and the opposite, it goes the other way as well.”
Some will continue wearing masks outside, saying they just feel safer with them on for the time being.
“I personally will wear mine at times when I’m with people, I want to protect them and keep them safe,” Cindy said. “I just think there’s not enough time and statistics to see. It sounds like if you do get COVID, you will be asymptomatic maybe, but still who wants to get COVID?”
“It’s ingrained in you, but a lot of people are afraid to take it off, and here I am with it on because I forgot I had it on,” said Naomi of Hull, MA. “I think people are wanting to get back to normal. I keep thinking about the pandemic in 1918, you had the roaring 20s after that people went crazy, so who’s to say? I think the next couple of weeks will tell.”
PREVIOUS: Coronavirus: CDC eases mask-wearing guidance for fully vaccinated Americans
Some establishments weren’t too crazy about masks to begin with.
“We have the sign outside, so people wear them obviously, but then when they come and sit down, they take him off right away and that’s cool with us,” said Dan Loewen from Risers Grille and Tap.
“If people happen to stand up without a mask we’re not going to be like, ‘Hey come on put the mask on.’ We get it. You just finish eating and you have a bunch of food on your face and want to go throw a mask on before you go the bathroom, so we’re really not too crazy about it.”
Now that the CDC said they’re not necessary for fully vaccinated people, many businesses are celebrating.
“People are more willing to go inside businesses and stuff knowing that a percentage of people have had the vaccine,” said Alex Hollenbeck, an intern at Liberty Tax Service. “I think that’s good news.”
>>>MORE: ‘The CDC guidance is not law’: Legal expert weighs in on future of mask mandates in private spaces
“More people comfortable coming out, obviously warmer weather, more people, more traffic walking by, people getting vaccinated, the summertime, people excited to get outside, it’s kind of a few different things coming together that are making business a little better I think,” Loewen said.
Follow Wale on Facebook: WaleAliyuTV Twitter: @WaleAliyu or Instagram: WaleAliyuTV
Download the free Boston 25 News app for up-to-the-minute push alerts
>> Complete Covid-19 vaccine coverage
RESOURCES:
- Complete local and national coronavirus coverage here
- Follow us on Facebook and Twitter | Watch Boston 25 NOW